The light at the end of the tunnel shines brightly. The fourth year of dental school or last year of residency is coming to an end and you’re ready to get out. Have you considered your options? Are you ready to step into that light? How do you know what’s right for you or what’s a good fit? Here is a partial list of questions with background information and follow-ups that I asked practice owners in the search for my ideal associateship:

Blood…sweat…tears…$$$. You’ve invested more than your share and you’ve done it for years. What you are now or will be shortly…a dentist…with the right to finally earn a great living and have a great life. What you have to protect…NOW…is your greatest investment…YOU. With that, we’ve teamed up with our great friend, Brandon Capps of Velocity Wealth Management for the series to come. We have ONE goal for you. Get educated so you can make the best choices for you!

Time…it’s arguably our most valuable commodity. You can make more of almost everything else in your dental practice when you think about it. So besides every other, well documented reason to stop impressioning and start scanning, let’s focus on what matters most…your time.

Are you a sitter? Yes!
Most of you would chuckle at this question if asked at your next physical. But, research shows it may just as important as our most famous question as dentists: Are you a smoker? Read more to find out!

Your Clinical Education is THE foundation to your success! You and I have to walk our clinical talk or all the brilliant business moves in the world become one hit wonders…and let’s face it VH1 aside, none of us care about one hit wonders…

Whether you prefer NY or Chicago style, one thing’s for sure. There are people who prefer a slice at a time and their are people with whole pie appetites. What I’d like to suggest to you is this. Your patients…they like pizza too. And just like every other “Can’t wait to burn my mouth” pizza lover, some need you to serve them a tooth at a time…and others…others want you to deliver their entire treatment plan all at once. What matters most is understanding WHO wants what…and when.

How many times have you delivered a great treatment plan to a patient only to have the patient and/or a team member look at you like you’re:
Clearly not as good as the owner dentist
Out of your mind
Trying to scam them
In this episode, Dr. David Rice, founder of igniteDDS and Mr. Jonathan Miller, Executive Fortune Management Coach, show you how to deliver your treatment plan pizza by the slice or the whole pie. AKA, how to win the patient and the team, without pi#*ing off the owner doc.

With all your debt looming as a young dentist, as incredible as technology is, you need to invest where ROI happens ASAP. 3D printers. If you haven’t checked them out, check this out. You’ll understand

We have compiled the Top 15 proven tips and tricks that will help crushing your dental school interviews. We know these worked because we are speaking from personal experiences and the perspective of a former predental student. You will not only learn how to dress professionally, but also other very important areas you might not be aware of. Ultimately, we want you to succeed and we believe you can do it! Click here to download the ebook now!

Applying for dental school can be…. is a very stressful process. Of course your goal is to have the most competitive DAT score, GPA and excellent academic ranking. In light of all those factors, one must keep in mind the importance of maintaining your extracurriculars up to date.

How do you plan on achieving your dream of becoming a dentist? It no longer is an easy task. With almost 14,000 applicants to the 65 dental schools in the United States your grades will no longer solely set you apart. Much more goes into your application now-your extracurricular activities, leadership positions, DAT scores, and the very important personal statement. Because only 15% of applicants are called for an interview you need to use every opportunity you can put get yourself ahead of the pack and this book will help you do just that.

I recently attended AAOMS’s Dental Implant Conference, an interdisciplinary conference that presents a holistic approach to dental implant treatment plans. Find out more about the benefits of interdisciplinary conferences in the article.

I attended the AAOMS District III caucus last weekend in Atlanta and had a great time taking part in our political process. Learn more about how you can ensure your voice gets heard in organizations like AAOMS, ASDA, the ADA, and more!

During residency or your first few years in practice how did you adapt to the revolving door of dental assistants? I don’t know about you but between my residency and my first associateship I had to learn how to build trust, empower, and encourage my dental assistant almost instantly!

D4’s, get ready…homestretch ahead. D1-D3’s, getting ready early… is exactly what you need.

As a D23, practice owner, and founder of igniteDDS, everyday, I get asked what the most successful young dentists do differently. The short story…they become president and CEO of their personal corporation.

Student, resident, and dentist burn out is prevalent and has the ability to seep into all aspects of life. The Maslach Burnout Inventory is the gold standard for self-evaluating burn out, and the results may serve as a spark to seek help or make a change in work or life style.

For those of you who are gearing up for graduation, you will soon be encountering the world of contracts which is a daunting part of the first year out of dental school. I am launching a three part series to discuss the key components to a dental associate contract, what you should be on the lookout for, and what things are up for negotiation. This is PART II of a 3 part series

Erinne showed me what Google predictors completed when typing “Dentists are…” and it was horrid. It broke my heart and got me wondering. For every time we hear “I hate dentists” but we still continue to love what we do… why? For those of you who wonder the same, read my answer here.

Hi guys, I’m excited to share with you an awesome conversation I had with a D4 student who was struggling with the question of: Do I attend a GPR/AEGD or go work in private practice? I know that I personally struggled with this question a lot. So here’s the video of our conversation and me sharing my personal experiences from the last 6 months in private practice. I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any other topics/ questions that you would like me to address.

On Valentine’s Day this year, I spent 12 hours at school during the day (from 7 AM – 7 PM) and less than 5 hours with my boyfriend. At this point, it would be appropriate to change my relationship status to: married to medicine.

There are a lot of ways Tony Romo could have handled himself given the new found talent and takeover of Dak Prescott. What he chose…defined him as a player…a leader…and a person. So what if Tony Romo were a dentist? How many wins would his team rack up..?